Gymboree Marks 50 Years by Scaling Membership-Based 'Super Gymboree' Centers Across China

Gymboree, the early childhood education brand founded in San Francisco in 1976, is marking its 50th anniversary not with a celebration but with a new store format in China. Super Gymboree (超级金宝贝), a membership-based children's growth center first introduced in January 2026, has been opening across Beijing and Shanghai — including centers in Beijing's Yizhuang and Haidian districts and Shanghai's Changning and Jiading — with further openings planned in more direct-operated cities as the company increases investment in its directly run network.

The format is a deliberate break from how most early learning centers in China operate. Traditional centers function largely as containers for scheduled classes: a child comes in for a session, the class ends, and the family leaves until the next appointment. Super Gymboree is built around membership instead, giving enrolled families access to open play areas that require no reservation, age-appropriate facilities for children aged 0 to 6, quiet learning corners, and instructor-supported reading zones. The company describes the shift as moving from a "course center" to a "growth space" — a place families visit repeatedly rather than once or twice a week for a 45-minute class.

The membership package, which is billed by the day rather than per class, bundles five components under what the brand calls its SUPER system: age-tiered courses for children from birth to six years old; unlimited play in the themed "Gymbo Adventure World"; curated picture-book reading with graded Chinese and English titles and professional reading guidance; online resources through the Gymboree app, including music, family games, stories and parenting courses; and exclusive member events, with close to a hundred activities scheduled across the year, from themed classes to birthday parties.

The company is betting that heavier direct operation is what makes the model deliverable. Membership-based centers place higher demands on space design, service processes and ongoing member engagement, and Gymboree argues that only centrally managed stores can guarantee a consistent experience. According to the brand, as of September 2026 it runs several hundred centers in more than 100 Chinese cities, with direct-operated centers in nine cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Wuhan, Zhengzhou, Jinan and Nanchang; centers in other cities are franchised under regional partners. In September 2024, Jinrui Bao (Suzhou) Enterprise Management received the brand authorization to operate Gymboree in mainland China.

The move reflects a broader recalibration in China's early childhood education market, where providers that once grew on prepaid course packages are searching for formats that keep families engaged for longer and spread risk away from single class purchases. Gymboree, which was founded by Joan Barnes in San Francisco and entered mainland China in 2003 with its first center in Shanghai, is framing the pivot as a return to its play-based learning roots — extended, in this version, across a family's whole day rather than a single class.